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Building a culture of empathy in your classroom, a few ideas. 
As teachers we can play a part in creating a more accepting/caring and safe future for the children in our care by modelling empathy and discussing it clearly. The modelling needs to be consistent and sometimes explicitly explained to demonstrate our thought processes.
When resolving conflict between children, ensure that both have a chance to explain their feelings, even if one is blatantly in the wrong. Ask them to try to understand the others perspective of a situation.
‘I want to understand how you were both feeling’ is a helpful phrase.
‘I want to understand how you were both feeling’ is a helpful phrase.
Offer chn chances to discover, meet & study people different to themselves in race, gender, faith & age. Help them realise that they aren’t all carbon copies of one another & our experience provides the platform from which we view the world.
Books are the perfect way to do this.
Books are the perfect way to do this.
It’s difficult for children to empathise without a wide variety of emotional vocabulary. If they can’t identify and express how they feel, it’s much harder for them to understand others emotions.
Take time to broaden the language at their disposal for discussing feelings.
Take time to broaden the language at their disposal for discussing feelings.
Provide chn with support to develop their self-regulation.
Feeling someone else's pain is unpleasant, it shouldn't surprise us if a child's 1st impulse is to shrink away.
Chn are more likely to overcome this impulse when they feel secure, & have strong self-regulation skills.
Feeling someone else's pain is unpleasant, it shouldn't surprise us if a child's 1st impulse is to shrink away.
Chn are more likely to overcome this impulse when they feel secure, & have strong self-regulation skills.
I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to model empathy consistently!
They will also gain so much from seeing you empathise with them, their classmates and your colleagues. If they see you’re fair, consistent and compassionate they will trust you.
They will also gain so much from seeing you empathise with them, their classmates and your colleagues. If they see you’re fair, consistent and compassionate they will trust you.
Mother Teresa said, ‘If you judge people, you don’t have time to love them.’
We have to work hard to help nurture children who love, not judge. Who care, who listen, who feel. Our world desperately needs them.
We have to work hard to help nurture children who love, not judge. Who care, who listen, who feel. Our world desperately needs them.
If you’re looking for specific ideas or books to help with this sort of work, please feel free to comment or drop me a message- it’s one of my favourite things to discuss. 
